Improvement in mustache-shields for drinking-cups



f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. GREENOGH, OF SYRAOUSE, NEW YORK.-

INIPROVEMENT IN MUSTACHE-SHIELDS FOR DRINKING-CUPS.

Speeication forming part of Letters Patent No. 144,614, dated November 18, 1873; application tiled April 21, 1873.

` To all whom it may concern:

device is found objectionable and inefficient. It is ineiiicient for the reason that, while the owner can use it at home, it is inconvenient and,in fact, impossible to carry it about for use on all occasions; besides, it is liable to destructionfand is not/therefore always available even at home. It is objectionable for the reason that it is very difficult to clean a cup containing one, and it is liable to' get heated and retain the heat much longer than in my device. For these, and many other reasons not here enumerated, the mustache-cup has not come into general use.

My invention is intended to obvia-te all the above defects, and to provide a convenient and practicable mustache-shield, always available to the owner when drinking in any place, portable, and at the same time cheap, durable, and efficient.

lThe construction is as follows: A flat plate7 a, or one slightly convexed on its upper surface, is shaped somewhat in the form of a shield, as in Figure l, or otherwise varied m outline to suit the taste of the constructor. To this plate, a, two side plates or wings, b, are jointed near the corners at c. These wing pieces, b, have a lip turned up on their frontA edge, d, which is made somewhat convex. Opposite the joint, or, at some other convenient point on the edge d, a hook, 71, projects upward and curves over and down to the bottom 'of the surface opposite its lower end, and it is made with a slight spring, so as to cling tothe edges of vessels of different thickness. If a 'sniiicient hold of the lip cannot be had without carrying the shieldtoo low into the cup, a shank opposite the hook can project down below it, as seen in Fig. 2, t'. By this arrangement of parts the shield can be set at any distance from the top and be put onto large or small cups, tumblers, &c., the shield expanding or contracting at the wings for that purpose. Instead of two joints, as seen in Fig. l, the two wings maybe made broader and joined by a pin at the center, as in Fig. 2, omitting the center piece; or if the shield is intended for a drinking-vessel of a speeiiio size, it can be made in one piece, as .seen in Fig. 3, and either of these shields can be furnished with a wire-gauze strainer, as seen in Fig. 3, s,- or the center part can be perforated at the outer or lower edge for that purpose, if desired, to prevent any extraneous substances or impurities from entering the mouth. From the hook h the band d may be made to spring out or in to iit the curve of the drinking-vessel more closely, and the hook itself can be made to swivel. The shield attached to a cup is seen in Fig. 4.

I claim as my invention in the above-described shield- 1. The spring-hooks 7L, of the mustaolie-- 

